


The Apartment Complex

by L_R_Penn



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Deadpool - All Media Types, Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: M/M, the apartment complex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9581663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_R_Penn/pseuds/L_R_Penn
Summary: In an apartment complex owned by Clint Barton, a romance begins to blossom between old friends who end up being neighbors.





	1. Chapter 1

Bucky sat on his couch in silence, his hands clasped loosely together as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. The lights in his apartment were off, but the fading sun’s rays that slipped in through the windows illuminated the well kept rooms. The living room only held the bare minimum. There was the couch the gardener sat on, a coffee table, and a flatscreen tv. A litter box was tucked in the corner on the opposite side of the balcony door that was always kept firmly shut and locked. In the bedroom, his bed looked as if it had never been slept in, the sheets perfectly taught so no wrinkles were present. A bedside table with a single drawer had the duty of holding a circular, flat time piece that displayed the time on a piece of glass that sat perpendicular to its base. The kitchen was equipped with the bare minimum. There was a knife block next to the blender on the counter, a frying pan in the drying rack, and a fridge tucked neatly into the cabinets.  


A rolling meow broke through Bucky’s thoughts and he looked down at the maine coon by his feet. Absently, he reached down with his good hand and rubbed the purring cat’s head before it turned and meandered off, searching for one of its many toys that it had tucked away. A low sigh escaped the man’s lips and he stood up, stretching out his sore arm and back before heading to the door. He needed to do some grocery shopping for dinner since he had forgotten to do some on his way back from work. As he opened the front door, the setting sun shone into his eyes, blinding him for a moment. He turned his back to both shut the door, and blink away and spots in his eyes more efficiently.  


“Morning James.” His neighbor let out a yawn and slightly raised a mug of steaming coffee in a greeting salute.  
“Work go okay for you today?” The man gave a small, tired smile, the stubble on his face making it look more like a grimace. His short blond hair looked like he had ran his hand through it instead of a brush, which was most likely the case. He wore sunglasses, a loose purple shirt, dark grey sweats and didn’t even bother with putting on shoes.  


“It’s well on its way to evening, Clint.” Bucky was use to the lazy look of his landlord, but some part of him still couldn’t believe that this lackadaisical man was really the owner of the apartment complex that he lived in. “Lucky’s going to get fat with you sleeping all the time. He’s only going to get fed and never walked.” Bucky looked away from Clint. Keeping constant eye contact wasn’t always easy for him. He was getting better at it, but he was nowhere near where he use to be. His fingers started fidgeting as his nerves grew and he shoved his hands into his pockets to hide it. The left arm had a slightly harder time making its way into the pocket, causing the corners of his lips to curve down, but it eventually did.  


“Well, if that’s an offer for you to take him on walks, I’d gladly accept it.” Clint took a sip from his coffee and scratched the back of his head. “He does like company, and I feel a bit bad that I can’t take him out during the day when most people are awake, but I do walk him at night.”  


Bucky’s brows knit in confusion. “You could take him out during the day if you woke up earlier.” This was probably the longest conversation he’d had with his landlord, or anyone for that matter, for a few months. “It’s not that hard.” He mumbled more to himself than to Barton.  


The blond sighed and crossed his arms along the railing that told people ‘Hey, there’s a four story drop here, so you probably shouldn’t walk this way’. “Actually, for now, I’m not able to take him for walks during the day.” The landlord turned to face Bucky and tapped the side of his head where a patch of disheveled hair was. “You can’t see it, but I’ve got this huge scar here. Runs all the way from here,” he pointed near the top of his skull, just behind his hairline, “to there.” His finger traced a curved line down to the base of his neck, where a small silver scar could be seen poking out from the bottom of his hair. Clint took a sip of his coffee, “I was in a pretty bad motorcycle accident a years back, and now too much sun in my eyes gives me killer migraines. I had to change my entire lifestyle because of it….” His finger tapped his mug slowly as his thoughts veered off, but then a smile broke his face and he let out a short laugh, “Not saying I mind it though. Sleeping in is great.”  


Bucky glanced down at his own left arm. He completely understood what Clint had gone through. One accident was all it took, and your whole life could be turned upside down. “If you ever need Lucky to be walked, I can do that when I’m home. Or if you ever wake up early and want to hang...” He felt awkward trying to befriend someone, but it had been ages since he related this much with someone. He really felt like he could make a great friend with Clint.  


“That’d be nice.” Clint smiled thankfully, “I’m sure Lucky would love to go out more during the day, and I’d like to have some company every now and then. I won’t keep you from doing whatever you were,” he raised a hand in a gestural wave, “I’ll see you later.”  


“Yeah.” Bucky gave a nod and turned away, heading to the stairwell. He did have to admit to himself that he was pretty stoked on making a new friend. He started down the stairs, and as he descended, his thoughts were drawn back on the last friend he had. It was before the accident that lost him his arm when he was fourteen. And a best friend. The kid was scrawny and a bit awkward, but a good person and a fast friend. They had known each other since kindergarten and had been close ever since. But the incident made him run away. After the accident, he switched schools, moved homes, and even left the state to live with his father.  


As he reached the bottom floor, he was completely absorbed in his thoughts that he hardly noticed the moving van with the back opened and a few people helping unload the boxes from it. He was just passing by the back of it when someone dropped next to him from the inside of the truck with a tired breath. “That’s the last three boxes Sam, we’re just about done.” From the corner of his eye, Bucky saw the man glance over at him; then glance once more. Feeling uncomfortable, he picked up his pace slightly to get away from the new resident and closer to the supermarket faster. He could hear a silent conversation behind his back as he walked away, and uncomfortable pricks found their way onto his good arm and the back of his neck. Becoming more conscious of his awkward bionic arm, he quickly turned the corner and picked his pace up even more. 

_____________________________________

By the time he arrived at the supermarket, Bucky was needing to catch his breath. He ended up deciding to run in order to relieve his anxiety and get him to his destination faster. It took him ten minutes to go through the aisles and grab the same food he always did and another seven to get back to the apartment complex. As he turned the corner, he was relieved to find the moving truck was gone and no one new was in sight. The old lady on the second floor was heading back inside after watering the plant by her door. The guy who had been helping the new person move, Bucky was pretty sure he heard the new guy call him Sam, was heading towards his car with his scrubs on. Apparently he had the night shift tonight. The college student on the fourth floor had stepped outside for some fresh air. He noticed Bucky heading towards the stairwell and gave his floormate a small nod that Bucky pretended not to see.  


The grocery bags swayed side to side as he made his way up the four flights to his level. There was an elevator he could have used, but the brunette liked to try and stay active. It helped with his nerves. Reaching his floor, he walked down the hall and stopped outside his door, setting a few of the bags down gently so he could fish for the keys in his pocket. As he was doing this, Clint’s door opened and a pair of voices flowed out from it.  


“-looking forward to staying here.” The voice of the newcomer was cheerful as he stepped into the hall. It was dark by now, but the halls were well lit and the light showed off the man’s blond hair and gave an oddly dramatic shading to his muscular build.  


“If you need anything, be sure to drop by.” Clint stood in his doorway and glanced to his right. Seeing the college kid down the hall, he raised a hand in a brief hello and looked back at the new person. He reached out a hand to the blondie who was a good bit taller than himself. “Pleasure getting to know you, Steve.”  


“You too.” Steve took Clint’s hand in a firm handshake. By this time, Bucky had finally managed to unlock his door and began picking up his bags again. He pointedly made sure not to look over at the duo, but as he picked up one of his bags, the handle broke and it fell to the ground. Thankfully, there were only cereal boxes in the bag, but it did make his life a hell of a lot more inconvenient.  


He breathed a small curse, but before he could bend to pick up the boxes, Steve was already gathering them up. “Let me help you with that.” His voice was nice to listen to. It didn’t grate on the ears.  


“You need help James?” Clint tilted his head slightly and nodded to all the bags he was carrying. At this point Lucky, Clint’s golden retriever (the resident elected mascot of the apartment complex) came running out of the open door and bounding down the hallway, his tail wagging wildly as it charged towards the student at the end of the hall. “Shit! Sorry Parker!” Clint took off after his dog which was now trying to make its way into the young man’s half-opened door.  


Barnes had been distracted by Lucky’s antics and hadn’t noticed Steve staring at him until he looked back and was met with piercing blue eyes that looked like they were swarmed with mixed feelings. “Bucky?”  


The color drained from his cheeks at the nickname. Of all the blond haired, blue eyed Steves that could have moved into this apartment complex, in the middle of this huge town of the entire country, it had to be this Steve. He waited a bit too long before looking away and opening his door. “Wrong guy.” His lie was completely unconvincing as he quickly made his way inside and shut the door. His hands shaking, Bucky walked over to the kitchen and dumped the bags onto the counter. He took in a deep breath before realizing he had left the cereal with Steve. He let out a sigh and hung his head for a moment. A knock came on his door and he let out another sigh.  
“Of all the damn people to run into...” He mumbled to himself as he walked over and slowly opened the door, his eyes not sure where to look so they just settled on the cereal that was in Steve’s hands.  


“...You still have my cereal.”  


Steve let out a chafed laugh. “Twenty-two years. I haven’t seen you for twenty-two years, and this is the hello I get? A denial of who you are and my importance being usurped by cereal?”  


Bucky didn’t respond. His hands began fidgeting so he tucked them into his pockets, his eyes still locked onto his cereal.  


“Buck… What happened?” Steve’s voice became soft and broken. “Please… I need to know. What happened with… with my mom and dad… with you?” His eyes looked away from Bucky’s face to the robotic left arm. “Why did you leave?”  


“I don’t want to talk about it.” Finally, he changed his line of sight from the food, to the door frame. It was a rather beautiful door frame. Basic, but it gave him something to look at other than his childhood friend, so it was beautiful to him.  


“Alright. I won’t ask about it.” Steve bit his lower lip thoughtfully for a moment. “I promise I won’t ask,” he spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words, “so may I at least come in and, I don’t know, just visit with you?” A small, playful smile tried to make its way onto his lips as he lifted up the broken bag with the cereal boxes inside. “I have sugary cereal with marshmallows in them.”  


Bucky thought for a moment before stepping out of the doorway to allow Steve in. The younger man smiled gratefully and walked in, setting the bag with the other groceries. Bucky flicked on the lights and started busying himself with putting the new food away.  


“How have you been Bucky?” Steve leaned with his back to the counter so he could watch Bucky. “You look good… well, maybe like a bit of a recluse, but still, good.” He spoke with a light tone, trying to lift the mood with it.  


“I get by.” Bucky finished putting away the last few things then folded the plastic bags into triangles. He stored those under his sink for whenever he may need a plastic bag in the future. “You….. You’re not scrawny anymore.” His dark eyes darted up to meet Steve’s crystal blue eyes. It was weird. There was no way this Steve could be the younger, smaller, thinner boy he had grown up with. The one he had always protected and looked after.  


A soft laugh escaped from Steve and he shook his head. “No, I guess I’m not.” A crooked smile showed his relief to find Bucky actually taking an effort to talk to him. “I moved in with my aunt, you know, the doting one who always came over for Christmas? Anyway, she always said I was too thin and made sure I ate more than I needed. I attribute my size to her diet of constant encouragement of eating. Of course, hitting puberty helped too.”  


They were dancing around the subject and Bucky knew it. It was eating him up inside, gnawing at his ankles and wrists.  
“Steve, I’m so sorry,” he quickly blurted out before he even knew what he was doing, “I never meant for your parents to get killed. It’s all my fault and I knew you couldn’t bare to see me after it. I mean, it’s all my fault that they’re dead in the first place. If they hadn’t been picking me up-”  


“Woah, woah,” Steve raised his hands to stop Bucky’s rambling and took a couple steps forward, placing them on the shorter man’s shoulders, “slow down there. First of all, it’s not your fault that my parents are dead. It was never your fault. And I have, never, blamed you for it.” Bucky’s face showed how shocked he was to hear this news. In the past, when it came to Steve, Bucky always felt like he had to protect the younger boy. So when he decided that he was the cause of the boy’s parent’s deaths, he felt that he had not only failed the boy, but wronged him as well.  


Steve let out a breath and visibly looked relieved as his shoulders relaxed. “Jeez. All this time, I thought you left because you were pissed that my family was the reason you got hurt. I thought you never wanted to see me again because of that.” He squeezed Bucky’s shoulders slightly, and gave the best happy puppy dog eyes that Barnes had ever seen. “Guess we both assumed a lot of things.”  


“... Yeah.” Bucky blinked, still trying to process exactly what was going on. Steve wasn’t mad at him. Even though the car accident that had killed his friend’s parents only happened because they were picking him up from the airport. No… Thinking back on it, it really wasn’t his fault. It was late, and there were irresponsible people out in the world… “I just, I still feel bad.” Bucky hung his head, his hair falling into his face. “I mean, yeah, I lost an arm, but you? You lost your parents. If my mom had picked me up, you wouldn’t have had to deal with that.”  


“We can’t change what’s in the past Buck.” Steve gave Bucky’s shoulders one last squeeze before letting them go, his hands falling to his sides, “But that’s alright. We learn from what happens. We learn how to continue living.” Steve slid his hands into his back jeans pockets. “And I hope we can get back to being friends. I’ve missed you.”  


Bucky was still reeling. So much of what he had believed to be true was just shattered by the only person who could have broken it. “I’m… I’m going to need time.” His brow knit as he tried to figure everything out. He wanted to be friends with Steve again. He really did. And he had missed his friend sorely. But the feeling that he had betrayed his friend was rooted deeply.  


Steve nodded slowly. “Yeah. I get it.” His eyes searched the floor for a moment as if it would hold what to say next. “I live in room 205. If you ever want to swing by, you’re free to.” He rubbed the back of his neck and searched Bucky’s face. The older man’s expression didn’t change. He was still lost in his thoughts as he nodded slowly to Steve’s invitation. The blond pursed his lips and nodded back. “I’ll, uh, I’ve got some unpacking to do. I’ll see you around?” Once more, all he got in response was an absent nod. He left the apartment, letting everything that was said between the two of them to sink in.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since Steve had confronted Bucky, and ever since, he had seen neither hide nor hare of his old friend. He let out a heavy breath as he looked around the room and strummed his fingers thoughtfully on the circular wooden table. His living room was half put together. The couch sat comfortably against the wall, a large flatscreen tv mounted on the wall across from it. A potted plant, a house warming gift from his aunt, was basking in the morning sun by the glass door of the balcony. In the bedroom, a few boxes that had been rummaged through were set off in the corner, a quarter of the bookshelf was full, the bed was lazily made, and boxes blocked off the walk in closet. 

“Hey Steve,” Sam greeted as he walked in through the opened front door with a small bounce in his step, “you ready to go to the gym?” The nurse paused when he saw his friend was deeply absorbed in his thoughts. “Steve?”

The second time his name was called, it managed to make its way through Steve’s thoughts and bring his attention to his old college roommate. “Hmm? Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“I could tell. Everything cool?” Sam raised an eyebrow in concern.

“Yeah. I’m just a bit worried about an old buddy of mine.” Steve stood up and looked around his apartment. “Man I’ve a lot of work to do still. But that can wait.” The Brooklynite picked up the gym bag at his feet and swiped the keys from his table. “Let’s go.” 

The two walked out of the apartment which Steve locked after, and headed down stairs. “What’s been on your mind lately man?” Sam began to pry lightly. As they reached the bottom floor, he followed the glance that Steve had cast and found himself looking at the fourth floor. 

“Like I said, it’s an old buddy of mine. You don’t need to worry about it.” Steve tried to give off a jovial tone and a reassuring smile. 

Sam gave a dubious look but agreed anyway. “If you say so. Just know that if you need someone, I’d be more than glad to help a brother out.” Steve nodded his thanks, and the two changed the topic. 

________________

Morning was over by the time the two returned to the apartment complex. Once more, Steve looked up towards the fourth floor and paused as he noticed two people upstairs. One was the landlord, wearing his sunglasses with a cup of joe in his hand, and the other was Bucky. The two were standing between their rooms, Lucky on a leash between the two of them, and were chatting casually. Steve even swore he saw Bucky give a small smile as he looked down at his feet. A disgusting pang crawled into his chest and he tore his eyes away from the scene. The blond concentrated on remaining calm as he made his way back to his apartment. 

“See you later Sam.” Steve waved to his friend as he exited the elevator on the second floor and made his way down the hall to his room. A part of him was saying the thoughts which were enveloping him currently were fueled by jealousy. After all, Bucky seemed to be doing just fine without him and he didn’t seem to be making much of an effort to reach out despite their previous conversation. But another part of him wanted the rational part of his brain to shut up and let him stew about it. 

Shutting the front door a bit harder than it deserved, Steve tossed his bag into the living room and opened the fridge. He grabbed the banana bread that he had brought back after visiting his aunt yesterday and started to moodily munch on it. The athletic trainer shut the door of the fridge with his foot and leaned against his counter while he ate in silence. He still wasn’t sure what it was with his aunt’s banana bread, but it always seemed to lift his mood. Then again, all of her cooking always seemed to lift his mood. He was just re-wrapping the loaf when a gentle knock came at his door. 

Wondering if Sam had accidentally left something in his car, he walked over to the door and opened it up, the partially wrapped banana bread still in his hand. “What’s up?” He stopped mid chew when he saw who was actually at his door.

Bucky looked up at him from under an old baseball cap. His hair was pulled back in a loose bun that hung by the base of his neck. A faded red zip up jacket was opened to reveal a loose white shirt that hung over his black scratched up jeans. Bucky was obviously surprised to find Steve the way he was. Covered in sweat, messy haired, crumbs on his face, and a loaf of bread in his hand. 

“If you’re busy, I can come back later?” A sniffing sound brought Steve’s attention to Lucky who was pulling at the leash in Bucky’s hand, trying to get closer to the food. 

“No, no, not at all! I’m not busy. Come on in!” Steve opened the door wider and realized how messy his apartment probably looked. “Sorry it’s a bit of a mess.” He quickly added on.

“Um, that’s okay. I was just stopping by to see if you were busy. If not I was going to see if you wanted to join me on taking Lucky for a walk.” Bucky motioned to the dog that was now drooling a small puddle and staring intently at the food in Steve’s hand.

“Oh. Oh yeah! I can go with you. Let me just put this away and I’ll go with you. I just got back from working out, so having a cool down walk will be nice.” Of course, Steve had already done his cooldown before leaving the gym, but he wasn’t going to pass up a chance to rekindle what he once had with his friend. He quickly walked back to the kitchen and put the bread back in the fridge, grabbed the keys from his pocket and shut the door. “We headed anywhere specific?”

Bucky shook his head and headed for the stairs. “Nah, just going to walk around. Maybe see if a park’s nearby or something.”

Steve was painfully aware of the strand of hair that had fallen out of Bucky’s bun and was now caressing the back of his neck. He pointedly looked away. “You like taking the stairs?” Steve searched desperately for anything to keep his mind off of the random thoughts that would suddenly pop up out of nowhere. 

He noticed they were happening more frequently as of late. When he was younger, before the accident, before everything changed, these thoughts only came up every now and then. Back then, they had been childish thoughts. He had always looked up to bucky, and somehow, it turned into an admiration. It reminded him of the fairy tale movies that his parents would play for him. The dashing prince saving the princess. Of course, he found it a bit weird that he was in the role of the princess at first. But he only felt like a princess when Bucky was standing in front of him, putting himself between the dangers and his best friend.

But now, things were different. He didn’t feel like the princess anymore. If anything, Bucky’s quiet and melancholy demeanor reminded him of the princesses that were trapped in towers. Their roles were now reversed, and Steve wanted to be the one protecting Bucky this time. And while these thoughts might be alright to have, the ones that began to claim Bucky’s appearance as beautiful and his attitude attractive were probably not ones he should be harboring towards a friend he was trying to reunite with. These thoughts probably started the instant that Bucky had looked into his eyes. They were crystal blue. In Steve’s memories, he had always assumed they were sky blue, but now that he could look into them, he could see the sky wasn’t as clear and sharp as Bucky’s eyes. Then again, in the past, he had always been looking at Bucky’s back, not his eyes at a distance of a few feet as he was gathering cereal boxes off the floor.

While he was thinking these things through, he noticed Bucky looking back at him, his brow furrowed in either annoyance, concern, or curiosity. Perhaps a mix of all three. 

“Are you listening?” Bucky asked

“I’m sorry. I didn’t catch what you just said.” Steve admitted, “I got distracted for a moment there.”

Bucky sighed and looked away. “Why even ask a question if you’re not going to pay attention to the answer?” His strides were long as Lucky pulled him forward excitedly. 

“Sorry.” Steve apologized again. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of them as they walked down the street, occasionally pausing to let Lucky sniff around. Steve’s mind was floundering around, trying to find anything to grab onto to break the silence. “So,” he clapped his hands and rubbed them together, “what do you do?”

“I work as a gardener in a greenhouse.” Bucky paused as Lucky intently sniffed a light post. “It’s nothing exciting, but it pays the bills.”

“I didn’t know you were into gardening.” Steve crossed his arms comfortably. “When did you get into it?”

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. “I guess in college? I took a horticulture class and ended up liking it.” He gave a small shrug and began heading towards a park he had spotted. “It’s a nice place. Not too many people bother you. They all leave you to do your own thing.”

A sudden thought struck Steve and he missed a step. “Do I bother you?” 

“You…” Bucky paused, falling silent for a moment as he considered how to put his thoughts. “You make me feel uncomfortable.”

Steve would be lying if he said that his spirit wasn't crushed slightly by those words. “Oh.”

Bucky turned to face Steve. “I'm not saying that I dislike you. It's just… It's been awhile since I've had someone around who knew who I use to be. It just makes me feel weird. I'm not the same kid I was back then, but that's who you know me as.” Once they reached the park, Bucky let Lucky off his leash and absently watched the golden retriever dart around and roll in the grass. 

“I'm not the same kid from back then either Buck.”

“Well, that’s obvious.” Bucky pointedly looked over Steve before turning back to the dog.

Steve let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah. I guess so.” Once more, silence fell between them and grated at Steve’s nerves. “Hey, do you want to go see a movie some time?” He wasn't sure what had compelled him to ask, but the request was there. He didn't have to wait long for a response this time.

“No.”

“Oh. Okay.” For the rest of the outing, they talked occasionally of their work or what had been going on in their lives. Most of the talking was done by Steve who was working hard at trying to sound positive. After half an hour, the two made the to the apartments. They parted ways at the stairs and Steve made his way into his bedroom. It wasn't even two o’clock yet, but he flopped onto his bed face first with a heavy sigh. He had been rejected. It stung.

He didn’t have very long to mope. A knock came at his door and he let out a sigh. Steve pushed himself off the bed and headed to the front door, the knock resounding once more. “I’m coming.” He called out. He opened the door to find a very distraught Sam at the door. He was still in his scrubs, his face was ragged, and his eyes were slightly red. 

“Sam, what’s wrong?” Steve moved aside so Sam could come in.

“I quit my job.” The young man walked in and made his way to the couch, taking a seat and pressing his hands against his face. “I had to see two kids die today Steve. Kids. There was nothing I could do. They just… died.” He shook his head and let out a shaky sigh. “I can’t do it anymore. I can’t watch people die day after day anymore.”

Steve wasn’t sure what to say. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of beers, offering one to Sam who gratefully accepted it. “Are you going to be okay man? If you ever need anything, you know you can count on me.”

Sam took a long swig of his drink before he looked over at Steve. “I know man. That’s why I’m here. I just… I needed a friend to talk to.” He sighed and ran a hand over his short dark hair. “I mean, I became a nurse because I wanted to help people. But most days I was just wondering what all those years of studying was for.”

The two sat and talked for hours, slowly trying to repair the wounds that were inflicted on Sam’s heart bit by bit. Most of the time they talked about anything but his old work. Sports, girls, the old days, anything. Steve didn’t talk about how he had been dumped, but after the last beer was finished and Sam was heading out the door to go back to his own apartment, Steve felt a bit better than he was before. It was nice knowing that he had a friend who was there for him when he needed, and that he could be there for a friend when they needed him. 

He only wished that Bucky would come to rely on him as well one day.


	3. Chapter 3

Clint was sitting at his computer, his sunglasses in their case off to the side. His blue eyes reflected the screen in front of him. He rubbed his scruffy chin thoughtfully as he looked over a compound bow and debated purchasing it. It had been a while since he had gone shooting, and he was sure there was probably a place that was open later in the day. A notification popped up on his screen as the lights in his room flickered and he got up from his desk. The landlord scratched his butt on the way to the door and made sure his gray-purple sweats were pulled up enough to cover his ass before tugging on a white tee with an arrow on it. He opened the door and smiled as Lucky bound in and raced for his water dish. 

“Hey James,” he took the leash from the brunet and hung it on the jacket rack by the door, “thanks for walking Lucky.” He looked back at Barnes and continued to smile as he watched the man’s lips move. “Nonetheless, I’m still thankful. Would you like a drink?” He motioned inside and watched Bucky walk in.

“Give me a second, I’ll be right with you.” Clint walked into his bathroom and opened up his medicine cabinet. He grabbed a little box and opened it up, grabbing the piece inside of it and pressing it into his ear. The world became less muffled. 

“What will you be having?” Clint walked over to the fridge and opened it up. “I’ve got everything from cold beer to hot coffee.”

“Ll ake .. eer if you ..n’t nd.” Bucky’s low voice was a bit hard to pick up even with the hearing aid at the highest setting, but he understood the gist of it.

“I don’t mind at all.” He grabbed a beer and closed the fridge, passing it to Bucky and motioning to his living room. “Please, make yourself at home.” By now, Lucky was done drinking and was following the two men excitedly. Clint chose a modern lounge chair for his seat and Bucky chose the seat across from him.

“Steve ask’d e to th’ mvies.” Bucky finally spoke up.

“Are you going to go?” Clint grabbed his tablet and opened up an application. As Bucky spoke, the words popped up on screen, so the ones that he would have missed were laid out for him.

“No.” Bucky leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at the floor. “I wanted to go, I’m trying to get to know him again, but, well…” He absently rubbed his artificial arm.

“You’re uncomfortable around people.” Clint nodded. “I understand. When I first got out of the hospital after my accident, I didn’t want to be around anyone.” He chuckled a bit. “Thankfully, I have this obnoxious friend who made sure to come and bother me as much as possible. I’m pretty sure Lucky likes her more than me.” He mumbled the last with a joking frown at his dog. “My ex-wife even visited a few times. Point is, I think it’s a good thing that Steve’s trying to get you to go out more. I would try and drag you myself, but, well,” He shrugged with a small smile, “I don’t think you’d enjoy being dragged around when you should be sleeping.”

Bucky gave a breath of a laugh and shook his head. “Yeah, probably not… Do you think I should go?” He looked over at his landlord, genuinely interested in his opinion.

Clint sighed and leaned back in his seat, his lips pursed thoughtfully. “That’s your call. If you’re not comfortable with it, don’t go. But if you think you can get through it, I think it’ll help you out immensely. But really, it all depends on you.”

Bucky fell silent. His eyes clouded over as he began to think, sipping lightly at his beer from time to time. That’s what Clint enjoyed about Bucky. He wasn’t a huge talker so it wasn’t hard to listen to him. Bucky opened his mouth to speak again, but became distracted when the lights in the apartment began to flicker wildly. 

“What’s that?” Bucky looked around the room as Clint stood up from his seat. 

“Someone’s at the door.” Clint began to walk over, a slight dread growing in him as the lights continued to flicker. He already knew who it was. He was pretty sure that Bucky had said something else, but he didn’t bring his tablet, and his ear piece didn’t make out the muffled words. He put his hand on the doorknob and let out a sigh before opening it, no amusement on his face. “Wade. Enough.”

The man on the other side of the door was… odd to say the least. He wore nice clothes. A black collared button down with a red and black tie tucked neatly into a red vest. A silver pin kept the tie neatly against his chest. He also wore a pair of sharp black slacks that went well with his polished black shoes. The oddest thing was probably his face. A black panama hat with a red strap kept a strange mask against the top half of his face. Like the rest of his outfit, the mask was red and black with a bit of white around the area of the eyes. Nothing could be seen behind the mask, and many wondered how the man was even able to see from behind it. The lips that were visible under the mask were littered with scars and grinning widely. A fitted black coat was hanging over one of his arms, and the college student from down the hall was in the other (though he didn’t look too pleased about it). 

“Hey Clint!” Wade spoke loudly. “I’m back!” He set Peter down on his feet and ushered the young man in by shoving his back until he reluctantly went in.

“I see that.” Clint sighed and welcomed Peter in. “Stop bothering Peter all the time Wade. He’s still a student and needs to get his work done.”

“Pshh!! I can provide for both of us.” Wade began to sign as he spoke now that he had both of his hands free.

Parker walked into the livingroom and awkwardly greeted Bucky before taking the seat that Clint had been previously sitting at. “Peter Parker.”

“James Barnes.” He nodded back and the two of them sat in awkward silence as Wade made his way into the apartment like he owned the place and took a seat on the couch.

“James, this is our residential nut that you should stay away from.” Clint motioned to Wilson, “Attempting cradle robber and just a shady guy all around. Don’t get involved with him if you can avoid it. Thankfully,” he took a seat on the other side of the couch, “he doesn’t come here that often.

“Aww, you guys make it sound like you hate me, but I know you really love me.” He grinned and looked over at Bucky. “You introduced me to him,” he signed as he spoke to Clint, “why hasn’t he been introduced to me?”

“His name is James.” Clint got up from his seat and went to the kitchen. If he was going to be dealing with Wade tonight, he was going to need some coffee. Scratch that, he was going to need A LOT of coffee. The sandy blond didn’t even bother to grab a mug, but grabbed the entire pot of coffee and walked back into the living room, taking a sip from it as he took his seat again.

“Clint,” Peter spoke up, looking at the tablet in front of him, “are you deaf?”

Wade was signing what Peter had asked, but there was no need. He had heard most of what the youngest member of the room had said, and what he didn’t, he caught by reading his lips. “Yeah. For the most part at least. I may as well be completely deaf.” He gave a small shrug and rubbed his cheek. “I had trouble hearing when I was younger due to an incident, but it came back eventually. When I was in my motorcycle accident, I lost my hearing again and it hasn’t come back since.”

Bucky and Peter looked at him, a bit shocked by this revelation. Clint cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward by the silence that followed. “How’s school going Peter?”

“Oh, um, good. I-it’s good.” He nodded and cracked his knuckles. “A bit busy but, yeah, good.”

Wade leaned closer to Bucky, probably a bit too close for comfort, and looked over the fake arm. “This is shit quality. I could introduce you to a guy who could make you a better one. It’d be like having your old arm back. In fact, I’ll call him right now.” Before Bucky could get in a word edgewise, he had already pulled out his phone and was dialing a number. He stood up and began to pace around as he waited for the person on the other end of the line to pick up.

“You don’t need to do that.” Bucky suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.

Wade waved a hand. “Too late, he answered. Tony! My friend! Hey don’t hang up, I actually have something pretty interesting. Dude without an arm. What? No. No I didn’t cut it off. He’s a buddy of a buddy of mine and he needs a new arm. This one is complete junk. Look. I’m going to bring him over right now and you’ll agree with me and make a new one because of your gross need to serve humanity or some shit because of your terrible feelings about how you use to be a weapons dealer and all that gloomy background shit that we can talk about later but for now. You, me, this dude, and Parker. Your place. New arm. Ten minutes. Kay bye smooches~!!” Wade snapped his phone shut and began pulling on the other two men.

“It’s been fun Clint! I’ll be sure to get you a new pair of robot ears while I’m at Stark’s place.”

“I don’t need robot ears.” Clint sighed and nodded at Bucky. “If Parker’s going, you’ll be fine. He’s good at keeping Wilson in check.”

“Yeah! Because if I want to tap that, I’ve got to ‘earn that’.” Wade smiled. “So you don’t have to worry too much about things going kablam or squelch. Wade’s word of promise.” The other two men followed the masked man out the door that slammed behind them. 

Clint took a long draught of coffee from the pot and rubbed his eyes. Lucky placed his head in his master’s lap and Barton rubbed behind the lab’s ears. “I think I’m going to buy that bow.” This got an agreeing bark from the dog. “It’ll be nice to get out more. Maybe Kate will go shooting with me again.”


	4. Deadpool's Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Deadpool here. I get to narrate this chapter so read it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote this chapter, I had everything dealing with Deadpool in Comic Sans. Unfortunately, since I don't know how to work AO3's system, this touch was lost.

Alright, so we’re in the car, Buckaroo, Peter Perky, and me, and neither of the guys seem too happy to be with me. But let’s face it, they’re never really that happy to see me. We’re almost at the Stark mansion and neither of them have said a word. I don’t know why. I tried everything, insult, jives, even snacks! But still, not a peep from either of them.

“You’re going to love your new arm. It’ll be just like the other one.” I say cleverly. Okay, maybe not cleverly, but still, I sound pretty cool.

“Other one?” Bucky finally talked to me! <3

“Oh, you know. The one from the movies. It’s all shiny and doesn’t really make any sense because it looks exactly like a human arm and despite being made of metal it’s able to move perfectly. Not to mention, I wonder if you ever get burned by it. I mean, metal can get pretty hot.”

“You can ignore his rambling.” Pretty Parker speaks up. Have I mentioned how cute his ass is? Well, I mean, I have, but you all were seeing from the perspective of Hawkeye, so you didn’t hear me when I was saying ‘DAMN THAT ASS IS FIIIIINNNEEEEE’ in my head a bunch. But you can believe me when I say that it. Is. F-I-N-E.

“This happens often?”

“All the time.” Peter nods.

“We’re here!” With my expert driving, I swing the car to a halt outside of Stark’s house. By the excited shrieks coming from the back, I assume that the boys had fun with that. I honk the horn multiple times and call out the window. “Tonykiinnnnssss~~!!!” I hop out of the car and run to the door, starting to press the doorbell repeatedly. “Oh Tony~!!” 

“Good evening Mr. Wilson. Tony said that I should allow you in before you blow something up again.” Jarvis, my main man, or rather, my main robot boi unlocks the front door. 

By this time, the bae and the emotional mess had gotten out of the car, and once Peter was in my reach, I pulled him close to me and gave a wink, though he couldn’t see it. “This way my good sirs!” I raise an arm and march them into the house. I know where to find Tony. No matter what universe it is, he’s still the same after all. The boys and I head downstairs and enter Tony’s ‘sanctuary’.

“I have brought you the Winter Soldier!” I proclaim and push Bucky into the middle of the lab where Tony was tinkering with something or other. It isn’t a bomb or weapon, so I really don’t care what he’s working on.

“The what?” Poor confused Bucky looks back at me. Of course he doesn’t know he’s the Winter Soldier. Man, it must suck to not know how cool you actually are.

“Ignore him, eyes on me.” If there’s one thing I can say about the Tony of this universe, it’s that he’s just as vain and pretentious as ever. He looks pretty much the same as Robert Downey Jr., except that his hair’s a bit more wavy and his jaw a little more thin. He still wears those stupidly stylish outfits that say ‘oh look at me, I’m so comfortable and yet fancy. This shirt is long sleeved, but it doesn’t go all the way down my arms because I’m stylish.’ Of course, he’ll never be able to beat my style in any universe. Oh right! You guys are probably more interested in what’s going on with Bucky. This is a Steve/Bucky fan fic after all. Though, if I had it my way, it’d be a Deadpool/hot chicks fan fic. But there’s no need for that, I mean, have you read any of my comics? I’m swarmed with hot chicks all the time!

“So, you’re the guy Wade was talking about.” Tony grabs Bucky’s arm and looks it over before taking it off his body. It was kind of funny to see the killing machine look so timid and shocked at the action. It was like someone had slapped him in the face with dirty underwear. “This arm sucks. Who made it? Hammer?” Without a second thought, he throws the clunky arm into a nearby trash can and waves a dismissive hand towards me and Peter. “You two can leave. I’ll keep the guy here tonight and drop him off at home tomorrow.”

“What?” Little Bucky looked so lost. His arm was in the trash, he wasn’t sure who the man in front of him was, and he obviously wasn’t comfortable with being left alone with a stranger. 

Too bad that leaving Bucky with Tony meant that I could go out with Peter. “Of course! You better get him home in better than one piece or Clint’ll be mad at you. He may even use his dad voice.” I laugh because the idea of Clint being a father is ridiculous. “Toodles~!” I take a stammering Peter’s hand and pull him back upstairs and out the front door.

“Wade!” Peter pulls his arm away from me < / 3 and gives me his best angry look. But all I can see is an adorable pouting puppy. “We can’t just leave James with Tony! H-he’s not a socialite. He’s lived in the same apartment complex as me for two years now and I’ve only talked to him a handful of times.”

I sigh. I am going to tap dat ass if it’s the last thing I do. “Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter.” I shake my head and pull him close. He struggles against it, but, let’s face it, without his special spider bite, I’m stronger. So in my arms he stays. “Bucky’s never going to learn to fly if all of you make him stay in the nest.”

“You’re not making any sense. And why are you calling him Bucky?”

“Everyone calls him Bucky.”

“No, they don’t.”

“The fangirls will back me up on this.” I shake my head. We’re getting off topic here. “The point is, if he wants to get better at being social, he needs to be in social situations. Stuff that makes him uncomfortable. Like learning to swim. You get thrown in the deep end and you either figure it out, or die.”

“That’s not how you teach someone to swim.” Peter stopped struggling, he realizes that he can’t break free from me.

“Sure it is. Now kiss me. My chapter’s ending.”

“What? You make no sense Wade. I want to go home.”

“Oh Peter~ you’re going so fast!”

“You’re not invited.”


End file.
